Sensory Evaluation of Fermented Food and Beverages of the World

Learn the skills to become a taste tester and enjoy exotic fermented food and beverages from around the world. We will take a tour of the globe by tasting indigenous fermented food and drinks like wine, sake, kvass, tepache, miso, kimchi, sausage and crème fraiche. While learning about their origins and going on a palatial journey, discover the science behind sensory analysis. Using the tools of industry, students will increase their sensory vocabulary; rediscover smell, sight, taste, and mouthfeel, and learn about preference testing, time intensity tests and more.

Audience

Food and Beverage Industry
Those interested in other cultures, foods, beverages, probiotics, and sensory analysis.

Topics Include

Learn how to evaluate smell, sight, mouthfeel, and taste of a product.
Students will receive a tasting wheel and be asked to use it to describe wine and sake.

Time intensity test with crème fraiche.
Students will draw a curve of how the intensity of flavor changes as they consume crème fraiche and tepache.

Preference testing
Students will do preference testing with sausages and kimchi.

Learning Objectives

Introduce participants to fermented beverages and foods from around the world via taste and a short history lesson.
Teach students methods behind taste testing.
Discuss the science of sensory analysis, the information gleaned about quality and preference, and how it applies to industry.
Briefly discuss how the results can be used in statistical analysis for marketing and product development.

Outcomes

Students will be given a tasting wheel so that they can begin to build a vocabulary around sensory analysis.
They will be participating in standard sensory analysis tests and analyze how they might be useful to industry and at home.
By engaging in this taste testing, participants will learn to embrace new fermented foods and appreciate the nuances of different global and microbiological cultures.